News Network: California Counts Collaborative

Pocket and Meadowview – Interstate 5 separates these two adjacent, but starkly different, Sacramento communities. Sculpted lawns, monogrammed gates and private lakes line the main roads of the wealthier, whiter Pocket, while young families move to the suburban homes at the neighborhood’s center. Here, voter turnout is high and residents speak knowledgably of the upcoming presidential elections.

On the other side of the freeway, Pocket Road becomes Meadowview Road, the mansions turn to chain stores and the homes plummet in value.The young people of this working-class, majority-minority neighborhood, say the political process has no connection to them.

As part of an election-year collaborative, named the California Counts Collaborative, Capital Public Radio is teaming up with news organizations KQED in San Francisco, KPCC in Los Angeles and KPBS in San Diego to produce stories that will inform voters’ decisions. CapRadio's Ben Bradford recently reported on thedifferences in voters between Pocket and Meadowview and joins Insight to talk more about the collaborative.